My son is growing (which is good) but that also means that he can reach higher up (which is good as well, but also bad for whatever fragile object he gets his hands on). So I want to move my HTPC/file server/Web server higher up because I got some critical stuff running on there and can't have him bother with that machine. In order to do that, I would really like to shrink the case from what is currently a big and airy Silverstone. But I haven't found the perfect replacement yet, so I thought I'd ask you folks for help.

What's important is that I need 1x2.5" (SSD) and 2x3.5" (redundant storage) bays, no more, no less (meaning no optical drive). The current board is microATX and the CPU an undervolted dual-core Sandy Bridge. I use a picoPSU for silence and efficiency. So I'm looking for the smallest case I can fit that hardware into and cool it silently (full system power at load is < 70W on the outlet). If anybody has an idea, it would be highly appreciated.

Q1) What expansion cards are you using, if any?Q2) Is it connected with ethernet or WiFi?Q3) How ventilated is the area around the case? Is it an open shelf, or something more restricted like a book case?

Here's another thing to consider during placement. I thought I had done a good job (a) placing a home server up high, (b) protecting the outlets, and (c) avoiding dangling cords that could be yanked down. But the UPS wasn't tucked away quite far enough, and my son crawled over and hit its power button. It was a brightly illuminated orange button that compelled him to pursue it.

I've built with one of these cases before. It holds a full ATX mobo, standard ATX PSU, and has room for your 3 drives if you purchase a couple of these to put your 3.5" hdd's in. And it has a 120mm fan for low noise. I got mine for $40 and free shipping.

If you're up for a miniITX conversion, I would recommend this case which has two 3.5" bays as well as two 2.5" bays along with front panel USB 3.0 (your mobo will need to have an internal USB 3.0 header) and a nice big 140mm fan. It is a bit on the pricey side, but I do like the understated appearance. Without knowing your budget, Lian Li and Silverstone are by far the best small form factor case makers, but you definetly pay for it.

The SG02 looks like the rational choice, I could easily get all my old hardware in there and as I would not be using the PSU space, even the cooler should be fine. But hell, the PC-Q11B looks really awfully nice!

I second DPete27's suggestion! If you don't mind getting an ITX board, the PC-Q11B would be a great choice. I have it in the living room right now, unboxed. It is awfully nice, and you could fit an ATX PSU in there if you don't want to mess with the external power brick (perhaps a fanless one)! I was planning on getting a Llano system for it (HTPC) but at the last moment I decided that I'd just wait until Trinity and Ivy Bridge are out so it'll hopefully do even better with casual games at 1080p (come onnnnn Steam, get that Big Picture mode done already!).

Anyway, it's well-built, will hold your drives, has USB 3.0 on the front, has rubber grommet thingies for the hard drive mounts, and is smaller than your current case. How much smaller? Convert some inches to mms here:

/edit 2: after looking around, I see that people are saying some of the versions came ONLY with an internal USB 3.0 motherboard connector as opposed to external pass-through connectors with a optional internal Y-adapter. Mine came with pass-through connectors and a Y-cable that terminates in a 20-pin USB 3.0 motherboard connector. WEIRDLY, when I go to Newegg (where I bought it from) to look, their product image shows that it comes with a Y-cable converting to a 2x5-pin USB 2.0 mobo connector.

Could it be that LL has shipped two different kinds of Y-cables with this product, and none at all?

/edit 3: Newegg sells a white version of that case, too, the PC-Q11A. In those photos it actually appears slightly off-white, like some beige got mixed in. Haha! If that's not an artifact of their lighting setup, that's got a funny retro vibe to it! I wonder if that was intentional? The Lian-Li site for the product doesn't have the beige tint... hm. Oh well.

/edit 4: oh god, I need to go for a run. Newegg is also apparently using the wrong code for the white version of this case. PC-Q11A should be the unpainted one (aluminium) whereas the white should be PC-Q11W. It's a possibility that they are actually selling the aluminium model and they're using the wrong images, but those look like staff shots, so I'll wager they're just using the wrong code.